


Revenge is Like a Feather

by Bai_Marionette



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Abuse, Angel!Ivan, Angel/Demon AU, Demon!Alfred, M/M, Obsessive Behavior, Paranoia, Self destruction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 11:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2022819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bai_Marionette/pseuds/Bai_Marionette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a reason that Angels and Demons never associated. Addiction. Insanity. Death. But those were just the few things that occurred after a certain little Angel caught the fancy of a very persistent and crazed Demon that was hellbent on getting what he wanted - by any means necessary, until the very end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revenge is Like a Feather

**Author's Note:**

  * For [siwobell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/siwobell/gifts).



**Revenge is Like a Feather**

 

Heaven was too easy, too quiet, too…boring. So he’d sought Earth. It was supposed to be just a little activity to make sure that he didn’t get bored from the humdrum to do with being an Angel - a servant of the Lord’s Will. But -

But then he’d seen _him_.

Ivan knew that the other had seen him too. His grin was too proud for him to not have known. He had played Ivan into his sinful hands. Those delicious and poisonous hands -

An Angel could not touch a Demon, their skin would burn at their dark energy, but that hadn’t stopped Ivan from trying.

A Demon could not touch an Angel, their very bones would screech and melt under their skin, but that hadn’t stopped the damned heathen from trying. He always bragged that he could get off on the pain if he meant that he got what he wanted in the end.

Oh boy, he got what he wanted. The first time that the Demon had laid eyes on him, Ivan had felt the gaze on him - felt his skin crawl and sweet sick stench of Hell still clinging heavily to the other. Something dirty made the heavenly being want the Demon even though he knew he shouldn’t.

It was a bad idea.

And yet, Ivan indulged himself.

They both did.

In that one short week, they tried to touch each other. Sparks flew - literally. Alfred’s fingertips bled and Ivan’s palms had seen better days. But they kept trying. Eventually by the fourth day of nonstop trying, Alfred had built up some kind of endurance or immunity to Ivan’s essence and the Angel felt the Demon’s fingers on his own.

"Gotcha, pretty Angel!” Alfred was laughing. “See? Told you I could do it!”

Ivan slapped his hands away, shaking the tingle from his digits, smiling thinly at the Demon. “Yes, good, Alfred, I’m proud of you…but it still hurts.”

The other looked discouraged at that. Quiet for a moment before he said quietly, “I’ll find a cure for us, Ivan, I promise.”

The Angel sighed. The younger was so old and yet so naïve. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep…”

“But I will, you’ll see – I’ll make everyone see,” Alfred took his hands again, both of them hissing at their hold. “I have to – We can do it, Ivan, I just gotta –”

“Let go of me!” Ivan roared, yanking his hand away. He hissed as he held his hand to his chest. The Demon resembled a kicked puppy then; big eyes, pouty lip and an utter look of sobbing horror.

“Ivan, I-” The Demon reached a hand out.

Ivan recoiled.

Alfred stopped himself, not even a second later, he was rambling apologies and then he was gone.

:::

Ivan didn’t see Alfred for several days. When he hadn’t seen him after three days, he knew to return back to the clouds. He did so reluctantly, regretting being so cruel to the younger. He was trying to help them – or at least, he thought he was helping them.

The Angel adjusted his new gloves to cover up the sear marks on his fingers. He couldn’t let his superiors find out about this. They’d had his head and sniff out Alfred quicker than he could probably hide.

:::

Alfred found him a few decades later. The humans had built towns now but they were nasty. Ivan was walking through one and looking among the piles of sickened dead bodies. Rats were practically everywhere. It was a paradise for vermin.

“Ivan?”

The Angel’s head snapped out, violet eyes wide. “Alfred?”

The Demon met toe to toe, grinning wider than his face should have allowed. “It’s …it’s good to see you again.”

Ivan smiled back, nodding but he was slightly anxious, “Yes, hopefully on good terms?”

Alfred blinked, “Why wouldn’t we be?”

Ivan relaxed, “No reason, I was just scared we wouldn’t be is all, what brings you to this place?”

Alfred shrugged, “Passing through really. Boss thought there might be something worth having up here.” He snickered, giving the Angel a half-lidded eyes and a smirk. “Just nothin’ for him anyways. How ya been?”

The Angel didn’t really feel comfortable under that look, stepping around a pole to put more distance between them. “Hm, me? Oh nothing really, I’m mostly checking around-”

“Good that we ran into each other, huh?” The Demon interrupted, smirk widening.

“Yes….” Ivan supposed. That grin was making him more than uncomfortable now.

“Wanna hang out today?” The younger suggested, coming closer. He held his hands behind his back, boot heels cracking human skulls easily as he walked over them. “We haven’t seen each other in a while and I wanted to-”

“I’m working, Alfred,” Ivan blurted. He didn’t know why he said it. Something told him to get away and throw off the Demon with the mention of work. “I won’t be here long.”

Alfred was quiet for a moment, expression indistinguishable. “Oh.”

Ivan shuffled among the dead, fidgety. “Yes, well, I need to get moving now.”

He turned to walk away and Alfred finally spoke up.

“I’ll see ya again soon?” He asked, it didn’t sound like a question but Ivan faked a smile and said yes anyways.

He wished he didn’t.

:::

Not even a few months later, future Angels found that the city was burned to ash. Ivan pretended that to believe the rumors that the humans had set fire to themselves again. He had a feeling he knew _who_ really did it. He also knew that he wouldn’t like the interrogation to come after that declaration when he was asked _how_ he knew.

For a week, he kept to himself.

He wanted to keep his distance to Alfred, something just kept telling him that he was only safe if there was space between them.

:::

“Aren’t we friends, Ivan?”

Ivan looked up, faking a smile at the owner of that voice. Keep their distance, yeah right. He was sure now that Alfred was following him wherever he went now. That wasn’t something that friends do, at least not any that the Angel knew of.

When the Demon came closer, Ivan faked a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. “Yes, yes, sure, we are-“

“Then, let me touch you.”

Ivan started, wide purple eyes on the Demon hanging from the rafters. The heathen looked serious. He wasn’t wearing gloves anymore, something that the Angel found very distressing. That, combined with the odd request, made the Demon even more a threat than he was before in the Angel’s eyes.

“No,” Ivan said. He said it louder when Alfred dropped himself into a crouch, still coming closer to him.

“Why?” The younger asked softly at first. He stopped almost a meter from the farthest reach of Angel’s shadow. His voice got louder and the air practically vibrated as the Demon began to throw a tantrum. Ivan regretted not taking a partner with him for this mission. “Why? It feels good for the both of us and you know you love it too. You’re the one who got me addicted to it-”

Ivan blinked.

Alfred’s hands were in his face and he reacted badly.

He slammed the Demon into the wall with a hard rabbit punch.

The Angel gaped at the crumbled body lying among the rubble. He took deep breaths as red eyes looked back at him before flickering back to blue. The taller took a step back as the other roughly put his jaw back in place and spat out a little blood. Oh, if Alfred looked pissed before, then he was infuriated now.

Ivan took the easy way out and he flew away, inwardly praising how Demons lacked wings whereas Angels carried the usually heavy burdens on their backs.

He was sure that another Angel would report that city burned down too.

:::

He wasn’t completely wrong.

The city fell under a severe earthquake, however, a rookie Angel and several devils had also been on the plain when it happened. All perished.

Ivan wasn’t sure what he feared more: Alfred actually touching him and inflicting that torture or falling under the Demon’s temper tantrums and dying in his disasters.

:::

“Hey, Ivan?” Natalya asked, wiping down her blade. The male looked up from his book, curious as to what spurred his usually quiet companion to talk. He’d taken a partner in the form of a rookie, not trusting the older Angels to keep his back if Alfred followed him again. Natalya was a fierce fighter, a good healer and when she did speak, she was very funny. Even her random trivia was amusing.

However, she was also known for being very quick to make assumptions – something she carried from her old life. From what Ivan had heard, it was the reason why no one had taken the skilled young woman as a partner prior. She was seen as too dangerous to be paired with.

“Hm, what is it?” He asked, frowning at a page in his book. It said most Demons could not create natural disasters and even if they could, they did not go unnoticed by the wielder’s superiors. Either Alfred had his Boss’ blessing to do such things without consequences or the young Demon didn’t care what his punishment.

“Did you hear about the Demon that attacked the Eleventh Tower last night?” Natalya said. Her curtain of hair was the perfect shield as she missed how Ivan paled. Eleventh Tower – he had been there last night but he had left early after being called upon, someone else had taken his position. Were they-

“-nd killed the guards, along with another rookie-“

The book fell from the older male’s lap as he put shaking hands to his face. He was struggling to regain control of his breathing.

“ –burned alive, they can our flesh, Ivan. I’m just- Ivan!” Natalya threw her sword onto the armchair as she went to his side, taking his hands in her cool ones as the older barely stopped his panic induced shaking. She was trying to shush him and soothe but all Ivan could see was a bloody mental image.

The image of the corpses of his fallen comrades; their faces still cemented in their horror and agony. There were bodies everywhere. Red footsteps all over the floor, white feathers lying in puddles among the skin that molted and kept sizzling, even in death.

Then, there was Alfred: snarling and covered in the blood that was no longer acid to his skin. He was holding one of their swords.

He was at the window right behind Ivan’s chair.

“Ivan, please, it’s okay,” Natalya held his face in her hands. She was whispering prayers to him even if it didn’t seem like Ivan was listening. But it helped somewhat. It kept the older grounded on the here and now. Not what might have been or what had already been done.

He couldn’t change the past, but he could try to change the future.

He had to get rid of Alfred.

This had to stop or Ivan was going to go insane.

:::

Ivan was put on watch duty late one night. He hadn’t wanted to be alone but his rank prevented him asking for a partner without arousing suspicion. That and he knew Natalya was right by him in the Second Tower. She had her bow today and had promised to watch out for him if she saw anything.

The older male was eternally grateful when she hadn’t asked why after their short moment some time ago.

There hadn’t been any more attacks recently but that couldn’t mean Alfred was done. No, he had probably been healing from battle wounds or being punished or a mixture of both. Hopefully, he was being reprimanded. If Alfred kept up his offenses, he might have actually started a war.

He could have-

“I like you in Guard uniform, it goes with your stylish gloves, Ivan,” a very familiar voice purred.

Ivan stiffened and he almost gave the signal for Natalya to start firing. Maybe she had finally convinced their superiors to lift the ban on her guns. Toris had probably fully healed by now. It wasn’t her fault that the fool had tried to “fix the jam for her” without her permission or knowledge and triggered it.

If anything, Alfred deserved any accidental explosion to the face. He might leave Ivan alone then.

“What are you doing here?” Ivan demanded, he kept his voice clear of fear and held it firm, even if he was terrified. “What do you want?”

Here was the killer of many - humans, Demons and Angels alike. No one had yet to escape his wrath and live to tell it.

Except Ivan, although he didn’t think he’d be living for very long if this kept up.

Alfred smiled and he almost looked harmless. Or even more dangerous, depending on which part of Ivan’s brain was talking. “You,” the Demon said simply.

Ivan wasn’t even shocked anymore, that much was obvious. “You have to stop this, you’re hurting people. Your own kind-“

Alfred just shrugged, leaning against the railing, “They were in my way.”

“You can’t keep doing this, I do not want-” Ivan started.

Alfred’s hand gripped the railing as the vines withered and died under his touch, the metal groaned. “What? You don’t want to be friends? You don’t love me?”

Wait what?

Ivan backed up. He was on the verge of giving Natalya the cue to start firing. He was shaking his head, holding his hands in front of him, “What – no, no, no, Alfred. You need to leave. Right now. I am not doing this with you-”

“Fine, when I leave,” Alfred threatened, stalking closer as he seethed. “I’ll just to inform your fucking small minded superiors why their precious Angel has been wearing gloves.”

Ivan gave him a hard look, clenching his hands and inching one more arm higher.

“Throw one signal and I torch this place, don’t even try it,” Alfred hissed. He stopped his advances, crossing his arms over his chest as he scoffed. “Pathetic. You belong to me, pretty Angel.”

Ivan barely held back his glare.

“Whether you like it or not,” the Demon smirked. “I’ll get what I want or I’ll get rid of whatever is in my way.” With a sudden puff of acrid air, he vanished and Ivan let out the shuddering breath that he had been holding.

Too close, that was too close in more ways than one.

:::

Alfred kept his promise.

Ivan tried to stave off any chance of guard duty he could but eventually it came back on his shoulders. When it did, he couldn’t ask Natalya. She was on a brief mission after a famine in Europe because of some other disease or something.

Meanwhile, Ivan had found himself losing sleep with every night he was alone to his thoughts after his encounter with the Demon before. He constantly felt watched, no matter where he went or what he did. He didn’t feel safe, he felt too vulnerable, knowing that the other would go to great lengths just to get close.

And that love declaration…or whatever kind of sick obsession that Alfred had with him, it was the star piece of every one of Ivan’s recent day walking nightmares.

He knew that his friends worried over him but he couldn’t open his mouth. Not without fear for what they’d say or spread to their superiors. The last Angel with Demon burn marks had lost his head for treason. It was a serious matter; the burns were a sign of taint. In Hell, the Angel scars were a sign of respect.

But the two realms were opposite of each other once again.

Ivan kept his watch as Guard that night as he was ordered to, but he was always looking over his shoulders, always itching to throw the signal for Natalya to fire if even the wind whistled wrong.

He was going insane.

:::

Ivan found dinner in his rooms once, it looked the same as usual, given at the proper time and put on the proper table. It smelled fine and looked just as well.

It landed the Angel in the recovery area for nearly three days from poisoning.

The rookies in charge of delivering the meals were interrogated heavily but none of them admitted to the deed. Ivan already knew who had done when he found a certain card in his rooms when he came back. A single shard of an evil weapon had the Angel practically running from his rooms.

The card read: _Wish you well_.

:::

“Ivan? You look unwell,” Natalya spoke up on their mission. It had been a few months and no sign of Alfred. This was not to be seen for a good thing. Ivan felt like he was hiding in plain sight. He just knew it. He could feel it.

Ivan licked his lips.

They were very dry for such a humid climate. Strange.

Natalya touched his arm and the taller flinched back, eyes gaping as he looked down at her. She frowned as he tore her hand away, walking backwards. His entire face was terrified.

“What’s wrong?” Her right hand went to her sword. Wrong.

“You’re not Natalya,” Ivan breathed.

The imposter froze as their faux blue eyes hardening as they rolled their neck. Long white strands fell from their head, molting to reveal dark blond hair instead; pale magic cracked and fell to reveal the tan complexion underneath. “Aw, you knew by touch alone, that’s sweet.”

“Where is my partner?” Ivan shouted, fear made him angry, and most of his fear lay in his slow growing belief that he’d led his friend to the slaughter. “Where is Natalya? What did you do to her?”

Alfred grinned, flicking his nails of the last piece of camouflage magic, “Hopefully, at the bottom of the Baltic Sea by now. She was a pest. A wall from you – she didn’t belong there.”

Ivan took another step back.

Alfred was insane.

He was entirely fucking insane.

“You – you,” the Angel could only shake his head. He didn’t want to believe it. No, it wasn’t true. Natalya was too strong. She wouldn’t die so easily. But then again, this was Alfred. Alfred was strong – no.

No, Natalya wasn’t dead.

Ivan would break if she was.

“Now, c’mere pretty Angel,” Alfred cooed. “I went through a lot of shit to get to you…”

Said Angel kept backing away until he felt a wall behind him. Of course, right where it shouldn’t be when he needed to escape. Not even enough room to spread his wings. He’d likely be stabbed in them if he even attempted. He wouldn’t put it past the Demon to forcefully ground him. If anything, he’d expect it at this point.

“C’mere!”

Ivan ducked just in time, scrabbling away and only barely getting away as he dashed to the other side of the road and kept running. He heard an unearthly scream and inwardly cursed as he knew that Alfred was up and chasing him now.

He didn’t dare look behind him for fear of what he would see. He kept looking straightforward. He couldn’t look back, he couldn’t look back, _he couldn’t look back_ –

Then he felt it.

It was the literal knife in his back that sent him to the ground.

He could feel Alfred lying atop of him, chuckling before he moved to straddle his backside. The Angel groaned into the dirt and Alfred smirked before turning the taller over to look at him. He grabbed his face with his bare hand, grinning toothily, as he held his cheeks with his very nails.

Ivan stayed stock still, as Alfred continued to smirk from above him, “See, would you look at that? My nails don’t burn ya, but if I use my hands…”

One bare hand gripped Ivan’s throat, effectively both choking him and searing it. Now Alfred’s smirk was gone, anger replacing it. “Do you see us now, you fucking bastard! This didn’t have to happen! If you had just listened to me!”

Two hands on his throat now; Alfred was using them both to immobilize the Angel with tremendous pain as he repeatedly slammed his head into the asphalt.

Thump. Insult. Swear. Thump. Curse on his mother. Thump. Curse on Natalya. Thump.

Alfred held a clawed hand right above his head, “I’ll make sure you never get away from me again!”

Ivan looked with disorientated eyes.

He couldn’t move.

Then came the sound of a fierce war cry – a very familiar one to Ivan - and the sound of little pitter-patter of water droplets against the road, before a short thump and Ivan felt a blade slide into him. He choked as thick Demon blood fell onto his face and the gunk entered his mouth. Alfred whimpered, sliding down on the blade protruding through his abdomen.

The blade was twisted sharply and both victims of it hissed.

“Not fucking…fair…” Alfred tried to say. He looked at Ivan, a shaking hand going to his face. His fingertips never even made it but Ivan felt the burn on his lips.  

Alfred slumped, dead.

The blade was yanked free and then thrown carelessly somewhere. The body over Ivan was tossed aside as well, as cool hands touched his face. They were wet. He couldn’t tell if wet with water or blood. If blood, whose?

Ivan’s head hurt.

“-van! Ivan, no, please,” he was being cradled, pain still keeping him still as his blood felt cold in his veins. The wound over his chest was very slow in closing. He had to wonder what kind of blade was used.

“Your neck…oh dear Father,” that voice kept saying, there was the light pressure on his flesh. He felt so cold. “Ivan, I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

Ivan struggled to regain focus.

He thought he saw long white hair…

But darkness came too soon.

:::

Ivan took nearly a full week to regain consciousness.

When he did, there was no good news. There was talk of interrogation and murmurs of treason. Gossip of punishment and consequences. Whispers of the Council and _Him_ getting involved.

Some days, Ivan just pretended to still be unconscious just so he could stave off the inevitable.

:::

When he told himself to just finally accept to whatever fate would be his future demise, he was given the greatest blessing ever. He wasn’t going to die. The Council revealed their knowing all along of Alfred but not knowing who he was looking for. They’d figured the target to either be a diabolical rebel or an ignorant victim.

They got Ivan instead and for that, he was being cleared of most of the charges.

The Council tried to hold him responsible for not fulfilling his mission and endangering his partner. However a few stern and very loud words from Natalya made them reluctantly drop the charges.

Ivan was given a final two weeks to recover and then he had to file out a report.

The Angel never felt so happy to write anything so basic and mind numbing his entire life, mortal and Angelic together.

:::

“Here…is something to hide the scars, I’m so sorry, Ivan,” Natalya said, upon visiting him in the recovery one day. She held a thick scarf in her hands. “My …big sister once made it for me, I never wore it, but she buried it with me and …I took it with me.”

She held it close for a moment, face saddening before she looked back up with the fierceness back in her eyes and stance. “I want you to have it. It can be your trophy. I already have mine.”

Ivan blinked as she handed it to him, fingers brushing the soft fabric and eyes almost closing at the fond memories still in the cloth. She had gotten it blessed. It was both a defense as well as a shield.

He smiled at her and she smiled back; leaning back into the pillows, he asked, “What was your trophy?”

“They gave my rifle back so I made some new bullets.” She answered, taking the closest seat next to him. She was wearing gloves as she pulled something from her pocket. The male was taken back as he was shown the masterpiece of craftsmanship.

“Are these-” Ivan didn’t have to finish his sentence for her to nod back, grinning. Alfred’s bones – she’d made them in many miniature trophies that no one could take away from her. She’d made them into bullets.

Ivan laughed heartily for what felt like the first time in a very long time.

:::

“Isn’t it a little warm to be wearing that scarf?” Toris joked, as the group stood at some island only few miles from the equator. Earth was celebrating a nice spring here, even after a natural disaster had swept away the celebrators.

Natalya made to give the brown haired Angel a cold look but Ivan smiled sadly, adjusting said article on his throat with a chuckle. The girl calmed when it looked like the oldest Angel took no offense, instead huffing as she went back to scanning the area.

“Hm, maybe,” Ivan said, kicking away a dark pebble. “But…I like the security it gives me.”

“Ah, something of your past?” Toris asked, but he backpedaled as Natalya did glare at him. “Ah! Not that it’s anything bad or any – I’m sorry.” He was afraid of the gun now safely back on Natalya’s belt. He didn’t want her to invent a jam as an excuse to shoot him in the face.

Ivan chuckled; face darkening only briefly before he ruffled Toris’ hair. “Yes, you could say that. I like to think of it as a trophy, right, Natalya?”

The young woman stopped glaring at Toris, retracting her hand from her gun. “Of course, trophies come in all forms.”

Like the bullets she’d made of Alfred’s bones.

“Exactly,” Ivan said, walking away from the two. “Come on, there’s nothing over here. Let’s check south district and scout from there.”

**Author's Note:**

> Another birthday drabble for Fynntail!


End file.
